Victim To Testify Today in Hearing for Jesse Matthew

Image: Jesse Matthew (Fairfax County Police Department)

The victim of a 2005 sexual assault in Fairfax City is expected to testify today in a pretrial hearing for Jesse Matthew, who has also been linked to the disappearance last fall of a University of Virginia student.

Matthew will go on trial Monday on charges that he attacked and sexually assaulted a Fairfax City woman as she walked home from a local grocery store. His trial will take place in the Fairfax Circuit Court at the courthouse in Fairfax City.

According to media reports, the victim flew in from India to testify at today’s hearing and at the trial next week.

Matthew, 33, will face charges of attempted capital murder, abduction with attempt to defile, and sexual penetration with an object. He faces three life sentences in the 2005 case, and has pleaded not guilty.

Thursday’s hearing will determine whether the victim can reliably identify Matthew as her attacker, according to radio station WTOP. His lawyers have argued that her recollection of the attack may be corrupted by pretrial publicity.

Matthew, of Charlottesville, has also been accused of murdering University of Virginia student Hannah Graham last fall. He faces charges in Albemarle County of capital murder, first-degree murder and abduction with intent to defile.

Graham vanished in September after a night out with friends, and her remains were found about five weeks later.